Hangin' with Savannah Evans

Published: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 at 12:00 a.m.

Facts

Favorites...

Movie: "The Shawshank Redemption"

Color: Blue and pink

Routine: Floor

TV Show: "Seinfeld"

Athlete: Shannon Miller

The Basics...
Savannah Evans is a 5-foot-2 ½ junior from Destin. Majoring in Sports Management, Evans aspires to be an athletics director. Evans is best known for her performance on vault and floor.Accomplishments...
Evans earned All-American honors on the floor as a freshman with a 9.90 at the NCAA Championships. She also tied two-time NCAA vault champion Susan Hines with a 10.0 on the event on March 12, 2004. Evans has twice scored a 9.95 on floor.Evans On...

Facing No. 1 Georgia Friday in the O-Dome: "We're definitely excited to be back here at home. The crowd here is amazing. Georgia is the defending national champions and it's going to be a great meet."

Her lucky socks: "It started my freshman year. I love silly socks. I started wearing them that first meet because it was so tense out on the floor I figured I could make someone laugh. They ended up being lucky because it was the first time I competed vault when I wore them."

What her lucky socks look like: "I change them every meet. They're just anything. They're monkeys, frogs. mooses. My boyfriend traveled to Japan this summer and he picked me up some. Other than that I get them at Target."

What she sees when she's flipping through the air during a routine: "At Alabama (last week) they have really bright lights and it felt like a strobe light in the air. Most of the time I don't see anything. It's more of a feeling, you know where the ground is but you don't look for it. My eyes are supposed to be open but I don't know if they really are. All the pictures I've seen my eyes are open. That's scary."

How she chooses the music for her floor routines: "The coaches help me out a lot with that. They picked out my freshman-year music ("Cotton Eye Joe"). It was perfect for because I loved country music and it fit my personality. This year was difficult to pick because I loved Cotton Eye Joe so much and the crowd got into it, but we ended up with "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" (by Shania Twain). A little more mature but still sticking with the country."

What is one problem currently facing collegiate athletics: "I really think that the scholarship distributions between athletes is a problem. My boyfriend is on the baseball team (catcher Brian Jeroloman) and I think they get 11.7 scholarships for 40 people on their team. I think that's awful. All of those guys deserve it. It's incredible that they can split it up that much. I know that has to do with Title IX, but it's still a problem."

The pet dog Brian Jeroloman gave her for her birthday: "He surprised me with that. It's a Pekingese. It's a boy and it's the cutest dog ever. I took him into the gym this summer and all the girls played with him. We put him on all the equipment and stuff. He's actually named Pudge after Brian's favorite catcher (Ivan Rodriguez)."

What makes her more nervous than a gymnastics meet: "I get really nervous taking tests. I study a lot but I'm one of those students who goes in thinking that maybe the professor is going to make it really hard. I actually don't get too nervous when I compete."

Growing up in Destin: "It's definitely a little tourist town there. Traffic is awful. No one knows where they're going because they're not from there. You tell people you're from Destin and they go, 'Oh, it's the most beautiful place ever.' I definitely love living there. The beach is right around the corner from me. I have to argue with Brian that Destin has better beaches than West Palm."

Misconceptions about gymnasts: "You know, a lot of people think gymnasts don't eat. We definitely do. We're healthy eaters. Everyone is like, 'You all starve yourselves.' No, we're just healthy eaters. We don't go to fast food places all the time. Also, everyone thinks gymnasts are flexible. I'm not at all. I have average flexibility. You can ask any of the coaches. They don't know how I can do any splits."

<b>The Basics...</b>
Savannah Evans is a 5-foot-2 ½ junior from Destin. Majoring in Sports Management, Evans aspires to be an athletics director. Evans is best known for her performance on vault and floor.<BR>
<b>Accomplishments...</b>
Evans earned All-American honors on the floor as a freshman with a 9.90 at the NCAA Championships. She also tied two-time NCAA vault champion Susan Hines with a 10.0 on the event on March 12, 2004. Evans has twice scored a 9.95 on floor.<BR>
<b>Evans On...</b>
<li><b>Facing No. 1 Georgia Friday in the O-Dome:</b> "We're definitely excited to be back here at home. The crowd here is amazing. Georgia is the defending national champions and it's going to be a great meet."<BR>
<li><b>Her lucky socks:</b> "It started my freshman year. I love silly socks. I started wearing them that first meet because it was so tense out on the floor I figured I could make someone laugh. They ended up being lucky because it was the first time I competed vault when I wore them."<BR>
<li><b>What her lucky socks look like:</b> "I change them every meet. They're just anything. They're monkeys, frogs. mooses. My boyfriend traveled to Japan this summer and he picked me up some. Other than that I get them at Target."<BR>
<li><b>What she sees when she's flipping through the air during a routine:</b> "At Alabama (last week) they have really bright lights and it felt like a strobe light in the air. Most of the time I don't see anything. It's more of a feeling, you know where the ground is but you don't look for it. My eyes are supposed to be open but I don't know if they really are. All the pictures I've seen my eyes are open. That's scary."<BR>
<li><b>How she chooses the music for her floor routines:</b> "The coaches help me out a lot with that. They picked out my freshman-year music ("Cotton Eye Joe"). It was perfect for because I loved country music and it fit my personality. This year was difficult to pick because I loved Cotton Eye Joe so much and the crowd got into it, but we ended up with "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" (by Shania Twain). A little more mature but still sticking with the country."<BR>
<li><b>What is one problem currently facing collegiate athletics:</b> "I really think that the scholarship distributions between athletes is a problem. My boyfriend is on the baseball team (catcher Brian Jeroloman) and I think they get 11.7 scholarships for 40 people on their team. I think that's awful. All of those guys deserve it. It's incredible that they can split it up that much. I know that has to do with Title IX, but it's still a problem."<BR>
<li><b>The pet dog Brian Jeroloman gave her for her birthday:</b> "He surprised me with that. It's a Pekingese. It's a boy and it's the cutest dog ever. I took him into the gym this summer and all the girls played with him. We put him on all the equipment and stuff. He's actually named Pudge after Brian's favorite catcher (Ivan Rodriguez)."<BR>
<li><b>What makes her more nervous than a gymnastics meet:</b> "I get really nervous taking tests. I study a lot but I'm one of those students who goes in thinking that maybe the professor is going to make it really hard. I actually don't get too nervous when I compete."<BR>
<li><b>Growing up in Destin:</b> "It's definitely a little tourist town there. Traffic is awful. No one knows where they're going because they're not from there. You tell people you're from Destin and they go, 'Oh, it's the most beautiful place ever.' I definitely love living there. The beach is right around the corner from me. I have to argue with Brian that Destin has better beaches than West Palm."<BR>
<li><b>Misconceptions about gymnasts:</b> "You know, a lot of people think gymnasts don't eat. We definitely do. We're healthy eaters. Everyone is like, 'You all starve yourselves.' No, we're just healthy eaters. We don't go to fast food places all the time. Also, everyone thinks gymnasts are flexible. I'm not at all. I have average flexibility. You can ask any of the coaches. They don't know how I can do any splits."<BR>